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Table tennis
Table tennis started out in England in the 19th century as an after-dinner game. Nowadays it is a high-tech sport with
more than 40 million competitive players, making it the most popular sport in the world. Since it became part of the
Olympic programme, China has dominated, winning all but four of the gold medals. Have you ever played table
tennis? Have you ever played it in a competition?
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2. The rules of Table Tennis
Table tennis is played on a rectangular table. There is a low net across the middle
of the table which divides it into two courts.
Players stand at each end of the table.
When the game is between two players, it’s called ‘singles’. If there are four players,
it’s called ‘doubles’.
The players hit a small, light ball to each other. They hit the ball with rackets made
of wood covered with rubber. The rackets can be any shape, weight or size, but
they must be made of wood and rubber.
To start the game, one player hits or ‘serves’ the ball. The other player tries to hit
the ball back (or ‘returns the serve’).
The ball must go over the net and land on the opposite court.
When players hit the ball to each other, it’s called a ‘rally’. The rally continues until a
player misses the ball, hits it into the net, or off the table.
The aim of the game is to hit the ball so that the other player misses it.
Singles matches are played over the best of seven games. The first player to reach
11 points wins each game provided there is a margin of two points.
Team matches are played to the best of five games.
That can’t have been good for the table - or the china.
True - I think they cleared the table before they started the game.
And you didn’t need to open the champagne each time you wanted to play?
Correct.